rosevalleygERL

make like a tree and leaf

Relationship Status

Dear Facebook,

I’ve decided that your paltry selection of options for one’s relationship status simply do not cut the mustard.  They lack a certain bite that people such as myself need in their daily lives.  In an attempt to help rectify this situation I’ve come up with five (5) of my own off the top of my head.  Please feel free to include these in your list of selections in the not-too-distant future and check back as I’m certain I’ll be updating this list in the next month-and-a-half.

  1. Don’t Let the Door Hit You On the Way Out – Said to the significant other as you collect their key to your place or when you’ve moved out and they finish moving your last box of worldly possessions into your new drama free abode.  If the latter, do not include them in your headcount for obligatory pizza and beer paid to those you roped in to helping you move.
  2. Free At Last – Said aloud whether or not anyone is around when the door firmly closes behind them.
  3. Fuck You, Fuck You, You’re Cool – No explanation needed.
  4. Cooking For One
  5. Significantly Less Complicated – No explanation needed.

Yours,

Eleanor R. Lien

 March 24, 2014 Love It Or Leave It

Recover

Chvrches – Recover

Carved earth, cold
Hiding from you in this skin, so old
I’ll come clean
Everywhere everyone knows it’s me
And if I recover
Will you be my comfort
Or it can be over
Or we can just leave it here
So pick any number
Choose any color
I’ve got the answer
Open the envelope
I’ll give you one more chance
To say we can change or part ways
And you take what you need
And you don’t need me

I’ll give you one more chance
To say we can change our old ways
And you take what you need
And you know you don’t need me

Blow by blow
Honest in every way I know
You appear
To face a decision I know you fear

And if I recover
Will you be my comfort
Or it can be over
Or we can just leave it here
So pick any number
Choose any color
I’ve got the answer
Open the envelope

I’ll give you one more chance
To say we can change or part ways
And you take what you need
And you don’t need me

I’ll give you one more chance
To say we can change our old ways
And you take what you need
And you know you don’t need me

And you know you don’t need me

And if I recover
Will you be my comfort
Or it can be over
Or we can just leave it here
So pick any number
Choose any color
I’ve got the answer
Open the envelope

I’ll give you one more chance
To say we can change or part ways
And you take what you need
And you don’t need me

I’ll give you one more chance
To say we can change our old ways
And you take what you need
And you know you don’t need me

 

 February 3, 2014 Music for the Soul

Dew It

Morning Dew

 October 9, 2013 Wordless Wednesday

Necessity is the mother of invention.

My maternal grandfather (Opa) was a natural when it came to invention.  Often the inventions came from a need and though he never pursued a higher education, I have no doubt that he would have been an engineer of some sort with great success.  My mother’s friend Mike, who recently helped her clean out the shed on the family property took great delight in stumbling on many of these inventions.  Of course he had to work backwards to find the problem said invention was to solve but it was a great way for Mike to get to know Opa and for my mom to remember her father fondly.

As I sit here and think that all of my positive attributes came from somewhere, I’d like to think that my inventiveness came from him.

Problem: My dear sweet pug who likes to perch from the highest of heights on the back of the couch cushions is no longer a puppy.  All 18.2 lbs of him has been breaking down the cushions, once tall and firm are now bowed and distended.  No only does this make the couch look dumpy, but he’s a sad, sad pug when he can’t rest his head on the back of the couch and gaze out the window.

I thought for awhile on this trying to come up with a solution that would provide support but not sacrifice comfort.  Often my best thinking is done in the shower and this proved true once again this weekend.  Back when I owned a car, I had purchased a set of towing straps in the event it broke down and needed to be towed home.  As I no longer own a vehicle, the unused straps had been relegate to my ‘car tub’ in the basement.  They say the wind of one door closing opens another…

Solution:

Invention

Results:

Perched Pug

Happy pug, no long-term damage to the couch and the thought that somewhere out there Opa is smiling.

 

 October 6, 2013 Don't Quote Me On That

Peachy Keen

 September 25, 2013 Wordless Wednesday

In The Dirt

S. Carey – In The Dirt

Don’t leave
Cause I believe
We were meant to sleep in the dirt

Don’t leave
Cause I believe
We were meant to sleep in the dirt

Don’t leave
Cause I believe
We were meant to sleep in the dirt

If you doubt
That I’ll be there
Don’t despair
Don’t you dare
If you doubt
That I’ll be there
Don’t despair
Don’t you dare
If you doubt
That I’ll be there
Don’t despair
Don’t you dare
If you doubt
That I’ll be there
Don’t despair
Don’t you dare

Don’t leave
Cause I believe
We were meant to sleep in the dirt

 

 September 23, 2013 Music for the Soul

The Lamb

Little Scream – The Lamb

Once when you were young, pedaling through the sun,
the light steamed through your body like a glass.
But then the changes come, things are good undone,
and the things you lose they don’t come back again

But you want to go back again, so you fall down and say the name: Amahl…

Electric radio waves is moving inside my veins.
And I can’t tell what words they’re saying.
‘Cus it’s the secret land of sound, the language of the ground,
the color of your broken [parachute].
It’s a possible refrain moving out of range
and pulling me towards you like a weight.
Now you are a song that plays inside my heart for days.
Listen… Amahl… Amahl… Amahl

 September 16, 2013 Music for the Soul

Pajamas Over People

“Isn’t it refreshing to know that what comes perfectly natural for you is your greatest strength? Your power is in your nature. You may not think it’s a big deal that you can spend hours immersed in something that interests you—alone—but the extrovert next door has no idea how you do it.” ― Laurie Helgoe

As I’ve grown older, I’ve found myself craving solitude more and more.  By the time Friday (the end of my work week) rolls around, I’m exhausted to the point being unable to form simple sentences and I’m a writer (words are typically not in short supply with me).  I call it my fire bad, tree pretty state of mind.  As we turn the corner from summer into fall, which of course then tips us into winter I find myself excited for stacks of books, mouthwatering smells coming from my kitchen, thick, comfortable sweaters and the rich deep quite of solitude.  Yes, I’m one of ‘those’ people, I’m an introvert.

I feel like I’ve been walking around with the sticker proclaiming what pant size I’m wearing on my ass only nobody noticed it; not even me.  There are 23 Signs You’re Secretly An Introvert and with an aptness I’d reserve only for my writing, someone finally managed to get to the point.  Is it strange that reading an article can provide such a huge sense of relief?  When you have few close but wonderful friends, a string of ex-boyfriends and a mother that doesn’t quite know how to dispense with parental advice (there’s no secret about my mother, she IS an introvert) you have people who’ve grown with you and those that have fallen off the radar, it is difficult to get a true ‘outsiders’ perspective.

“Let’s clear one thing up: Introverts do not hate small talk because we dislike people.  We hate small talk because we hate the barrier it creates between people.” ― Laurie Helgoe

I’ll take my leave and avoid the mistake that many make in confusing small talk with meaningful interactions.  Follow the signs and if you have any questions, I’ll be over here, with my stack of books and cup of tea (with goat milk and honey).  Pajamas over people?  Yes please.

 September 5, 2013 Don't Quote Me On That, Love It Or Leave It

(All Along The) Watchtower

Devlin feat. Ed Sheeran (Originally Bob Dylan) – Watchtower

There must be some kind of way out of here
Said the joker to the thief, yeah
There’s too much confusion
Mmm I can’t get no relief

Yeah
I see jokers on my left, thieves upon my right
You’d find me in the middle if I picked a different life
Before my name started tripling in size
But I’m still showing signs all attributed tonight
In the pitch black, it’s too cold
I’m all alone take me back to the roads
I had to rode to get here and I’ll hitch back
Get a cab to my mother’s house
See my old man and grab a six pack
Tell my brother I love him
And give him something that will see him through the hard times
What’s a brother for?
When I’m sick of this life I see
It has to be my family who lift me off the floor
Make sense of all the madness in a world full of money, full of tears, full of war
I was a failed man and worse I couldn’t give a fuck
Save your wine for the entrepreneurs

All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants too, yeah
Outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl

Cause your world is the same as mine
Pour more blood in your cup
Take a sip full of sin and let your taste buds savour the buzz
The flavour of an ill-mannered nature
That lingers on as animals in all of us
Trying to fight for the right to live a life
But some will never win though
That’s why they live a lie
I don’t think I’ll ever win
All of this is anything
When I die I hope a love is at my side
There’s no trap door, or get out clause
The world can be your oyster or a set of jail doors
You’ve seen mine, I think it’s time I see yours
I bet you that we’ve been scarred by the same swords
Some are lost some are…
Apart from the fact I live my life in the light and now I’m trapped in it
The way I feel within a few years time
I might have a couple kids and just forget I ever wrote lyrics

All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants too, yeah
Outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl

Take away the treasure of a man
Convinced that he holds heaven in his hands
Even though I ain’t religious I’m a little superstitious
Maybe there is a promised land
But will I make it or not is a different matter
I’ve been a joker, I’ve been a thief, I’ve been a rapper
I’ve been the only enemy that I can never beat
Give me a piece of mind upon a platinum platter

All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants too, yeah
Outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl

 September 2, 2013 Music for the Soul

Beautiful Advice

Read This

Because if you don’t, you’ll have missed out on some of the best relationship advice ever.
Because if you don’t, you might lose faith in the fact that men are capable of ‘getting it’.

And if you do, you’ll most likely cry as I did.
And if you do, you’ll recognize that this advice applies to BOTH partners in a marriage.

So please do.

 August 28, 2013 Love It Or Leave It